Tony Stark Has A Heart
by KeepSaying
Summary: ..and of course it malfunctions. Or: Tony might have a new health issue to deal with but at least he has someone in his corner. Several someones actually.


**A/N** : In my defense... I was studying and really the physiology of the heart didn't hold much fascination after this came to mind. So I've been writing this on off for a while. It's basically an excuse for lots of cuddles. Feedback is appreciated, hope you enjoy :) x

* * *

„Tony!", he heard a familiar voice call his name from down the hall and stopped to turn around to find his friend hurrying towards him, tablet in hand. "Do you have a minute?", Bruce asked, but before Tony had time to form a reply he had already shoved the screen into his face, glaring at the clueless superhero who had instinctively reached out to grab the piece of electronic when it hit his chest.

"Care to explain what this is?"

The billionaire raised an eyebrow questioningly, "I know I'm the genius around here but I thought you're the one with the medical experience. You should be able to figure this out on your own", he replied with a grin and a clap to his shoulder, already handing the tablet back and in the middle of turning back around, his mind going back to his lab and the latest idea that had him walking down the hall in the first place when his friend stopped him once more. This time grabbing his arm to hold him back.

"I know what this is", Bruce told him and Tony noticed he didn't look too amused so he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being until he knew what the commotion was all about. "It's an ECG from two days ago and it's got your name on it. What I would like to know is why you didn't come to me with it."

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. does them every once in a while", Tony answered truthfully his head cocked to the side and speaking deliberately slowly when Bruce only seemed more agitated at that , "Why would I have to tell you about it? How did you even find this?"

Suddenly Bruce seemed exhausted, running the hand that wasn't currently holding on to the Starkpad through his hair, leaving it in a tousled mess and Tony even more confused. "I've been working on a new system to organize our medical database, so I've been combing through all of our medical data and I found this and you should have told me about it because this says you've had a coronary sometime during the last week."

"I'm sorry, what?", Tony practically snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest, a million comebacks running through his mind, all of them sarcastic but something in the doctor's eyes made him pause. "Wait. You're being serious?", he questioned, pausing the _Tony Stark persona_ to really take in the new piece of information.

His first response, as it was to most things, was to laugh, crack a joke and just walk off and really, he was all for it right now but something stopped him. Some tiny nagging voice in his mind told him that maybe this might be a good time to just stop and listen. Also he really didn't want to make the Hulk angry by talking back to Banner when he was clearly getting more agitated with every word coming out of Tony's mouth.

"Yeah, Tony. This is really serious", Bruce sighed, somewhere between glad and terrified at having gotten his friend to shut up. "And judging by this", he pointed to the ECG still open on the tablet that Tony had barely glanced at, "It wasn't just a pulling in your chest or a minor inconvenience to your day. This would have had all of the symptoms. You can't tell me you didn't notice part of your heart giving out on you. Not even you can be dense enough to ignore something as serious as…"

"A heart attack?", Tony offered when Bruce trailed off, earning himself a hard look.

"Look, I'm sorry", he started only to stop because A, he didn't really know what he was apologizing for anyway and B, the good doctor wouldn't have let him continue anyway.

"Sorry?!", Bruce almost yelled at him and Tony could've sworn he saw a faint green tint just below his hairline for a moment. "I don't need you to be sorry, Tony! I need you to take care of yourself. I just…", he took a deep breath, composing himself until he managed to continue in his usual calm voice – well, maybe a little breathless still but definitely not bordering on green anymore – "I know you have this massive hero complex with wanting to save everyone all the time and not deeming yourself worthy of anything nice in return but you can't just throw your life away like that. We need you here with us. You're one of my best friends and you know the boy needs you, too. You can't just go back to your-"

"Could you take a break for just a second, please?", Tony cut him off, hand raised in a timeout motion to stop the man from talking, his frown turning into confusion. Bruce might've been right about pretty much everything he had just said but I hadn't knowingly ignored a heart attack, had he?

He had heard about the warning signs, of course, everyone had. About the sharp pain in your chest that was supposed to travel into your left arm, the dyspnea, the arrhythmia, the excruciating pain, feeling of impending doom,…

"Oh."

The sound came out involuntarily when realization hit him and he met Banner's searching look almost sheepishly, though with his arms shoved into his pant pockets as to look his usual suave self (and to keep them from shaking).

"I thought it was just an anxiety attack. You know how they get", he told him with a half-hearted shrug that didn't seem to reassure his friend in the slightest.

"No, Tony", Bruce shook his head, dropping both arms to his side in defeat, all anger suddenly draining from him, leaving only the concern and misery in the warm brown eyes that Tony didn't know how to deal with.

An impromptu anger management session with the Hulk in the hallway? Sure. But having to face his friend's obvious worry for his, Tony's, wellbeing? He was not equipped to deal with that sort of emotional conversation before midnight. And if he had it his way not after either.

"I don't. And I didn't know you did. How long have you been having these?"

Bruce's voice pulled him back into the moment but before he had the time to form a smart response and to come up with the best way to deflect what he had accidentally just spilled, he was interrupted again.

They heard a loud bang that sounded like a door being slammed into its lock and they both whirled around, instantly on high alert.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?", Tony immediately asked his AI, already moving towards his bedroom to get one of his spare suits, "Any intruders we should know about?"

"No, sir", the voice sounded from the hallways calmly and he stopped, frowning at his friend in confusion. "Peter just ran into his room. He's currently laying on his bed. Would you like me to talk to him?"

"Ah crap. I knew he'd be out of school soon", he cursed under his breath, "Has he heard everything?"

"It would appear so", F.R.I.D.A.Y. told him matter-of-factly and he shot Bruce an apologetic look before taking off to find the kid.

"This conversation is not finished", he heard him call out, "And I'm getting you an appointment for a heart catheter first thing in the morning."

Whatever. He really didn't have time for this right now and, frankly, he didn't really care. Tony might not have intentionally kept his heart issues a secret but if there hadn't been any repercussions so far, he was sure that another night of worrisome sleep wouldn't exactly make matters worse.

Right now he had other things to worry about. Like the teenage superhero that was probably curled up in his bed with his face pressed into his pillow as he always did when he wanted to escape something because he didn't know how to deal with it. And he did not want to think about why he knew this so well right now, either.

Why did the kid have to be so sneaky? Couldn't he be a normal teenager, loudly declaring his presence once he entered a room and not some enhanced Spiderling who had probably heard every word from still three rooms out?

He wasn't even sure why his heart conditions would agitate the boy so much. Though, on second thought, his mentor having a heart attack probably wasn't the most reassuring thing for someone who had already lost three parental figures in his young life. And this was Peter he was thinking about, of course that kid cared and of course his mind immediately went to the dark places that he shouldn't even know existed.

Crap.

"Pete?", he called out once he came to a stop in front of the kid's bedroom door, knocking even though he knew he had already heard him. "Can I come in?"

There came a muffled noise through the door that he couldn't quite identify but that he decided was close enough to a 'yes' to take the risk.

He pulled the door open gently, shutting it behind him just as quietly before slowly walking over to where Peter was still laying on his bed, face pressed into his pillow, not making a move to turn around.

Just as he had anticipated.

"Hey kid", the billionaire greeted him when he sat down next to the legs sticking out from under the hastily thrown blanket he had tried to cover himself with, and patted the boy's back kind of awkwardly. "You heard that?"

More muffled noise and a quick jerk of his head and Tony sighed.

"I'm sorry", he told him quietly, rubbing what he hoped were soothing patterns on his mentee's back when he felt him start to shake ever so slightly underneath his touch. "I wouldn't have told you like this. I mean it's probably nothing anyway. Bruce is just overreacting because he loves me so much and-"

"It's not nothing", Peter's hoarse voice suddenly interrupted him and, ever so slowly, the boy turned around to face him. His cheeks were tear-stained and he looked angry with his fist clenched around part of the blanket and his eyes both glazed with more unshed tears and blazing with irritation at the older man.

Ah. He spoke.

"When Bruce says it's serious then it's serious", he told him, his shaky voice breaking a little before he seemed to focus back on his anger. "How could you not know this?", he asked, his voice suddenly a lot stronger as he pushed himself into a sitting position next to the man who had come to mean so much to him. "I mean, I thought you were a genius or something. How could you not realize you were having a heart attack? You should've… You should've done _something_! What if you had died and left us- me. What-"

"Hey, hey", he stopped the kid's rambling, scooting a little closer to rub a hand slowly up and down his arm, "I'm here, aren't I? And I'm gonna get checked out first thing in the morning but I'm guessing if it hasn't killed me yet, it won't anytime soon."

"That's not funny", Peter mumbled but his breathing slowly returned to normal anyway and the older man gave him the time he seemed to be needing, in no rush to get away from the kid whatsoever.

"Tony?", he broke the silence after a while, looking kind of embarrassed when he met his eyes again, "Could I- uh. Could I hug you? I'd just… I think I wouldn't feel so anxious when I could hear you heartbeat. If not that's-"

"C'mere, kid."

A small, genuine smile found its way to his lips when he wrapped his arm fully around Peter's shoulders and felt the kid lean into him more until his head was resting on his chest and Tony leaned back, adjusting both of their positions so they'd be more comfortable. Ever since they had gotten everyone back after Thanos and Peter had gotten his own room at the compound, dropping by every other day after school, this had happened a lot more often and for someone who hated physical contact as much as Tony did, the hugs were oddly reassuring.

He didn't like to admit this to anyone but he had gotten used to having the kid around and being close to him and he wouldn't know how to face most days without the reassuringly energetic bouncing Spider-Baby around to keep his mood up.

On muscle memory alone his hand found Pete's hair and he started running it through the soft locks as had become the norm in moments like these. He knew that always calmed the boy down.

"Tony?"

Looking down at the shock of hair that didn't seem to be moving anytime soon, the older man stilled for a moment, unsure whether the teenager wanted to look up. But he seemed happy right where he was.

"Yeah, kid?"

"I didn't know you had anxiety attacks, too."

He gulped but continued to massage Peter's neck with his hand.

"I don't exactly broadcast that tidbit about myself", he offered finally, trying his best to fight against the immediate need to close up again and to shut everyone out.

It was hard.

He was trying but, _damn_ , it was really hard. Somehow it was easier with Peter curled into him and not having to meet anyone's pitying gaze, though.

"You could've told me when you were helping me deal with mine." His voice sounded even younger now and for a moment Tony pulled him a little tighter to his chest, reveling in how perfectly Peter seemed to fit into his arms and how he simply cuddled closer.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna throw my problems at you when I'm trying to help you deal with yours", he tried to joke lightly, "Somehow I think that's not how this whole mentoring thing is supposed to work."

It got quiet after that and he was almost certain the boy had fallen asleep in his arms (again) when he spoke up again, his voice already hoarse in an _almost asleep but not quite there yet_ kind of way that warmed something inside his chest, making it go all parental goo.

"Tony?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Bruce is right. You need to take care of yourself for us. I need you around. You're my favorite hero." The last tidbit of the sentence got almost lost in the yawn following it but Tony had heard it and he chuckled quietly, his heart suddenly feeling a lot lighter.

"Good night, Underoos", he told the kid with a smile, making no move of letting him go.

* * *

When Pepper found them three hours later, they were in the same exact position, both fast asleep. Peter's head was resting on Tony's chest who was propped up against one of the pillows that Peter seemed to own a hundred of. It didn't look very comfortable but she knew that both of them were usually fighting their own demons while asleep and right now they looked so peaceful that she couldn't help but be glad.

Maybe Tony had been right about kids, she mused to herself as she snapped a picture of the pair, not able to refuse the adorableness.

Putting her phone back into the back pocket of her jeans, she walked over to the bed and leaned down, running a hand through her fiancé's messy hair, smiling when she felt him lean into the touch.

"Tony?", she whispered, trying hard not to wake Peter up in the process – albeit that was a lost cause, considering his enhanced hearing and all.

"Five more minutes?", he mumbled, turning away from her grumbling and, by doing so, leaning closer into the hug he was still sharing with Peter who – unlike his mentor – blinked at her and, with a yawn, pulled away from a still whining Tony.

"Hey Pete", she greeted the boy with a small smile, watching as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, "How long have you two been in here?"

"Uh", the teenager looked around a little lost, still half-asleep, "I'm not sure? A while? What time is it?"

Behind him, Tony was rejoining the land living as well, a frown marring his features when he leaned forward that turned into a grimace when he heard his back pop.

"Definitely getting too old for this", he muttered more to himself but of course Peter had heard him and in a swift motion, surprising both adults present, he jumped up and helped the older man stand, all the while rambling on about how he should look after himself and apologizing for falling asleep on him and-

"Kid. Relax", Tony's voice finally interrupted him, stifling a yawn, "I'm not gonna self-combust because of a strained back."

Pepper watched the exchange in amusement. "I wanted to ask if either of you have had dinner", she told them after their bickering died down, "But we might as well call it an early night. Lord knows we don't get many of them."

"Are you gonna be alright, Pete?", Tony wanted to know, eyeing his protégé intently who, after a short pause, gave him a reassuring nod of his head.

"I'll be fine. It'll be good to catch up on sleep." He returned the older man's scrutinizing gaze openly, hoping to convey that he was actually okay for once with just a look.

"If anything comes up-", Tony started, already anticipating Peter's eye roll, but it was Pepper who finished the sentence for him, taking both men by surprise.

"You'll know where to find us."

The words warmed something in his – apparently not so healthy – heart when he bid the kid good night by ruffling his hair once more. Peter and Pepper getting along had had him worried long before they had actually met and as of now, it had all been for nothing. Thankfully. He could see a mom in her whenever she was around the kid and he knew for a fact that his interactions with Peter had made her more receptive to the idea of maybe someday having a child of their own.

Stepping out of Peter's room and into their own which was just down the hall, he stopped to pull Pepper closer, leaning in for a kiss. Once more he marveled at the wonderful woman in his arms. Soft, fierce and strong enough to call him out when he needed to be called out. God, he loved her. Before his hands could travel from her waist to the hem of her shirt, though, she pulled away, both of her hands resting against his chest firmly.

"Don't try to sidetrack me", she told him seriously, a worried look now crossing her face that she had somehow managed to hide earlier for Peter's sake.

With a sigh he let his own hands drop to her waist and leaned his forehead against hers, basking in the familiarity of it. "I take it Bruce told you?"

"He did", she confirmed softly, leaning into him a little more closely.

"Is there any chance we can maybe not talk about it tonight?", he tried out, his voice half serious half joking but when he met her hard eyes he relented, raising both arms in the air as he took a step back, "I know what you're going to say and yes, I promise I will let Bruce poke and prod me tomorrow for whatever that's worth but just… not tonight?"

Biting her lip, her eyes roamed his body, as if to make sure that he was indeed still in one piece and healthy. Finally she nodded, a heavy sigh leaving her lips. "Fine. Let's get ready for bed."

And as always (well, most of the time) her wish was his command.

They moved through their room in silence, putting away old clothes and donning pajamas, and he was in the middle of slipping into his shirt, when she spoke up again.

"Why didn't you tell me about the anxiety attack?", she asked quietly and when he turned around he found her already curled up on her side of the bed, watching him a little sadly.

With a sigh, he slipped under the covers, scooting closer to her until they were almost touching.

"It was no big deal. You were away for the weekend and I was down in the lab when it started. It was out of nowhere but I figured I'm messed up enough to start panicking without an actual trigger, so I just went with it", he confessed, propped up on his elbow and reaching out to caress her cheek tentatively. "And then it was over. It took its sweet time, admittedly, but it was gone and I didn't want to worry you even more. I'm sorry."

Closing her eyes, Pepper leaned into the touch, her hand coming up to grab his to pull him closer. "I know you are but I'm always worried and I might be a tad less worried if you'd actually talk to me."

Tony nodded, arm winding around his fiancée's soft form until she was safely nestled into his side, "I'm working on it."

He thought she had already fallen asleep, when she didn't reply but after another five minutes in which his eyes had already fallen shut, her voice traveled through the darkness once more.

"Would you have told me? If Bruce hadn't, I mean?"

Pondering about that for a second, he ended up shrugging, "I'd like to think yes but we'll never know now, will we?" That seemed to be enough of an answer and he really hoped she appreciated his honesty but at least she didn't seem to be mad when she stayed right where she was.

"Any more questions before I will fall asleep for once?"

"Promise not to die in your sleep?", she replied with a mocked huff, "That'd really mess up my night."

He actually snorted at that and pressed a kiss to her hair, still chuckling, "Only if you promise you'll keep me safe."

* * *

Tony had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind when he came to.

Pepper was still firmly wrapped around him like the safety blanket that she was and fast asleep but there was something off that he couldn't quite put a finger on. It usually had to do with Peter and the thought alone terrified him both because either he was getting the parent-sense now (was that an actual thing?) or the kid was in danger and the thought alone made his stupid heart beat that much faster.

No wonder he'd gotten a heart condition somewhere along the way, seriously. Not that he'd tell the kid that. No, that would only result in more guilt and he already had enough of that in his 15 year old body for a life time. A very long and fulfilling life if Tony had any say in that.

Trying his best not to wake the woman sleeping in his arms, he managed to half turn and surely enough, there stood a small Spider-Boy at the foot of his bed, the large Iron Man shirt hanging loosely around his skinny form and making him look even smaller.

"What's up, Pete?", he asked him, his voice heavy with sleep, already moving to sit up and scramble over to the side of the bed. (Yes, scramble. For this kid Tony would scramble disgracefully to the end of the earth.)

"I just-", the kid stopped, rubbing his eyes sleepily and looking absolutely adorable doing so, "I wanted to make sure everything's alright. See if you're asleep and-"

Alive. Though the kid didn't say that, his voice breaking before the word came out.

He waved awkwardly at him and was about to turn around, when Pepper's voice sounded from behind Tony, "Pete? You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just gonna go back to my room. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, wait." Tony might've been too tired to react as fast as he would've otherwise but he was fast enough to catch the kid's wrist before he could flee the room and turned him so he was looking at him.

He thought carefully about his next words, looking the kid up and down in all his miserable glory before he let go of his arm and patted the mattress next to him. "You wanna join us?"

"Wha- No, I can't do tha-", Peter started rambling, although his eyes seemed to have lit up at the suggestion. Tony only watched in amusement, an eyebrow raised as the teenager seemed to dig his own grave, contradicting himself every other sentence.

"Yeah, well. It's a big bed, so come on over", he interrupted him finally and scooted back over to where Pepper was laying on her side, watching the interacting with a tired grin, nodding when Peter seemed to wait for her confirmation before he did as he was told and slipped under the covers as well, a little awkwardly at first.

When Tony spread out both his arms to either side, though, he was happy to accept the wordless invitation and practically melted into the billionaire's side before Pepper had even moved to adjust her position.

Chuckling, he pulled them both closer, feeling them build his very own cocoon and if he was being honest, none of his suits had ever felt safer.

So maybe he was getting that parental sixth sense everyone kept talking about. And maybe that was okay.

* * *

Morning came around bright, wait too early and with it a flurry of activity that had Tony nursing a headache not before long since, apparently, it wasn't advised to have coffee before seeing his doctors.

Doctors as in several people. All in white lab coats, huddled together in the med bay and looking at pictures of his heart. Bruce really had gone all out on this one.

There was some regular blood drawing – which he knew for a fact didn't really need three different samples – and the heart catheter Bruce had insisted on yesterday but on top of that came an ultrasound of his heart, another ECG, scintigraphy and an a MRI.

And they told him _he_ was the worry wart.

Peter would never get to live this moment down, he decided. The next small cut the boy got, he'd order him a freaking plastic surgeon just to get back at him for going along with this madness.

Somehow Happy and Rhodey had gotten wind of the situation, too – he suspected Pepper – and instead of staying out of his business and not crowding the already stuffed place like he ordered them to, they made it even worse.

Happy had come over right away, dressed in a t-shirt with a pun so badly made that it had given Peter's shirts a run for their money and – what was way worse – a pile of books full of semi-scientific facts about coronary heart diseases. That coupled with Peter's attachment to his tablet since they had woken up and he was sure they would have the treatment regime lain out before the medical staff had their diagnosis finished.

Though Rhodey had taken it upon himself to be as unhelpful and stressful as possible in the process of getting it. He had demanded – and somehow convinced everyone in charge – to be there during the heart catheter examination via video live feed and had continued to ogle everything the doctors, _including Bruce 9 PhDs Banner_ , did making sure that they were treating Tony to the best of their abilities.

A bunch of mother hens. All of them.

As much as their concern flattered him and as much as he appreciated that they cared so much – by the end of the three hour long prodding he was spent, feeling more exhausted than he would after pulling an all- nighter. And he hadn't even had breakfast yet.

A knock on the door pulled him from his coffee- deprived thoughts and he groaned when he saw the curly head of a teenage boy poking through the doorway, having half the mind to beg him for food.

He smelled the coffee before he saw the tray Peter was carrying but when he did his eye nearly popped out of his skull. The tray was loaded with all kinds of breakfast food and a steaming hot pot of coffee.

"God", he sighed happily, half turning into his pillow as he felt his mouth begin to water and his stomach growled so loudly he was sure the people in the next building would be able to hear it. "Have I told you how much I love and appreciate you, lately? And that you're the very best intern Stark Industry has ever had?"

Peter simply grinned as he put the food down on the table next to the older man's bed and dropped himself down on the chair sitting beside it with the gracelessness of a growing boy with limbs too long for him to handle. He snatched two grapes from the tray before throwing his legs onto the side of the bed next to where Tony had sat up and leaned back, the tablet already back on his lap with what seemed like a hundred tabs open.

"So I take it all of this has been approved by Google and the wisdom of the books Happy's mom provided?", he smirked at the kid even as he dug into the food and sipped his coffee. There were scrambled eggs, vegetables, an avocado sandwich and some fruits all arranged on his plate, nothing even remotely unhealthy in sight, "I didn't think you'd let me have my coffee."

"Well", Peter shrugged, "It says that two to three cups of coffee a day are actually good for your cardiovascular system after a coronary. So that's what you'll get."

"I'm sorry what?", he all but spluttered out, almost spilling some of the godly liquor he was currently consuming and that was being threatened. "Two to three a day? What am I supposed to do after midnight?"

Now the kid's eyes were downright gleaming with glee as his mentor's obvious distress, "Most people would say sleep. It's recommended to go to sleep early anyway. Or at least to have eight hours sleep each night", he provided, laughing at Tony's flabbergasted expression. "Oh, come on. How hard can it be?"

"Have you met me?", the billionaire shot back, shaking his head in mock desperation, "Take away the coffee and the all-nighters, what's left?"

It got another giggle out of the teenager and that was worth the fact that he felt his heart giving out on him at the mere prospect of having to cut back on his coffee intake. He liked the joyful, hopeful kid a lot better than the one who couldn't sleep because Tony was going to die of heart failure while he was dreaming.

"There's one thing you're gonna like, though", Peter added almost as an afterthought watching Tony continue to munch on his breakfast who simply hummed to tell him to continue. "Red wine is good for your blood pressure and in extension your heart. Not the cheap one, but something called _Chateauneuf du Pape_. Happy said you used to have it here and it says here that t-"

"Nope", Tony cut him off with a wave of his hand, "Not gonna happen."

"Wha- What?", Peter stuttered and it was almost adorable to watch him scramble for the tablet to pull up the right tab to convince his mentor but Tony was having none of it.

He shook his head, actually smiling as he finished his coffee with a final swig and set it down on the tray, watching the teenager ramble about all the health benefits of red wine.

"I'm not going to drink", he said simply once it seemed that the word vomit had died out, "You can make me eat all the green fodder in the world and try to take my coffee away from me. Hell, I might even try to drink less of it and go to sleep early like the grandpa you seem to think I am, but I'm a recovering alcoholic and I'd rather die of this than start drinking again and die of that, only possibly choking on my own vomit. Sorry, kid."

Peter dropped the tablet then, pulling on the sleeves of his hoodie self-consciously before meeting Tony's eyes again. "It's okay, I get it. I just… I wanted to help", he admitted quietly, all his previous good mood draining from his small body and just leaving the worried teenager that Tony had expected to be met with in the first place.

"You just-", he sighed, "You can't die, you know? I won't allow it."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Tony couldn't help but smile fondly at the kid's words because they were so _kid-like_. So young and innocent and stubborn.

"C'mere kid", he told him quietly, pushing the food away and patting the spot next to him. As soon as he had his arms full of Peter again and could feel his soft breathing against his neck, he pressed a kiss to his curly hair, glad he hadn't put any product in it yet.

"You know, contrary to popular belief, I am human", he whispered softly, already anticipating how the grip around his waist would tighten and pulling him closer in return. "But I've got a whole lot of people looking out for me, don't I? I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Does that mean you'll listen to Pepper when she tells you to go to sleep? Or when Rhodey tells you to take a break working out? Are you going to eat Happy's healthy food? And- uh- let me help you with lifting heavy stuff or something?"

The words were mumbled into his chest and way too fast to fully understand without superhearing but Tony got the gist and he grinned down at the latest addition to his crazy family.

"I might take your suggestions into consideration", he replied lightly before pressing another kiss to the shock of light brown hair, "I promise I'll take care. Don't think I'll have much of a choice with you clinging to me like an octopus anyway."

A few months ago the quip would've had Peter scrambling away from him and running out of the room in embarrassment. It said a lot about how far they had come when he only slapped Tony's chest lightly before burrowing into it even further, making himself more comfortable in the older man's arms.

And Tony?

Well, he might have a heart issue now but at least that meant he had a heart - something he hadn't been sure of for most of his life, something most people still wouldn't believe him if he told them- and his heart was so full of love that he couldn't imagine it giving out on him just because of a minor coronary.

No, he had way too much to live for now and he intended to let the kid, Pepper, Rhodey and Happy continue to give him grey hair until he was at least old enough to rock the look.


End file.
